


Puzzle Pieces

by infectedscrew



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Chicken Noodle Soup, Emotional Constipation, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Violence, Minor cursing, these boys are losers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-06 21:17:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6770221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infectedscrew/pseuds/infectedscrew
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A night on the streets doesn't go well for Jason, at all but Tim shows up to make it all better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Puzzle Pieces

Everything ached in new and impossible ways. One thing about the job was that it taught you a lot more about your body than you ever cared to know. For example, did you know that you could pinch a nerve in your elbow? It’s true! What’s worse you could pinch it from doing something incredibly stupid, like trying to snap a pistol out of a thug’s grasp in an overly flash way and only resulting in cursing, seizing you entire left arm and being forced to kick the man in the family jewels instead.

It was not Jason’s best moment.

Nor was anything else about the rest of the night.

By the time he was even considering calling it a night, his thigh was bleeding, his left arm still felt fucked, a massive bruising was forming on his back and his knee burned from taking a fall too hard. He was frustrated and making mistakes. The only good thing was that no one was around to see it.

Which meant… no one was around to help him either.

And help would have been a desperate blessing right at that moment. He was surrounded in the back of an alley and out of ammo. His trusty knife was only going to do so much. With everything else that had gone wrong that night, he was sure nothing good was going to happen next.

The bullet ripping through his forearm only proved that. There was nothing nice about being right.

“Fuck!” It wasn’t quite a screech but it was damn close.

There was no way he was going to stop now. The no-name, low-level thugs were not going to be the ones to send him back to his grave. He’d kill himself before that would ever happen.

Jason kicked off the wall and slammed bodily into the man in front of him. Arms wrapped around the fat gut, it was just one hard twist before the man was being hurled to the ground. He brought his heel down on the man’s knee, shattering it. The scream was brought a little wave of vindictive pleasure to Jason’s frayed nerves.

It was a mess of bodies and a close fight. Dimly he was aware he was going to be trashed by the time he got out of it.

If he got out of it.

“Hood, move!”

Jason stiffed, tilting his head back. His brain hadn’t really caught up with him before he ducked and a lean body vaulted over him, feet crashing into the face of a very confused–now very unconscious–thug.

“Get out of here, Red,” Jason hissed, helmet distorting the sound into something truly insidious. “I can handle this.”

Back to him, Red Robin clearly ignored him. His bo staff flashed out in the terrible lighting and clipped a man in the chin. Even from feet away, Jason could hear the crack of the man’s teeth. It made him grimace.

In the last year, Tim had become a brutal vigilante. Ever since the title of Robin had been taken from him, he’d thrown himself into the world of masks and crimes. It was bizarre to see the scrawny dork come back to Gotham as a lethal weapon. What was worse, suddenly Tim was taking time out of his oh-so-busy schedule to check in on Jason–make sure he was okay.

All of it made Jason reevaluate their relationship–from enemies to grudging allies all the way to stable partners.

“I don’t think you can handle it, Hood,” Red answered finally. “I’m here for you.”

Jason snorted and only turned his attention to the remaining thugs. It was easier than thinking about how the words made his chest constrict into an entirely different ache for the night.

In short order the criminals were taken down. As Jason set to work tying them up, Tim contacted the police.

“Why are you here?” Jason demanded, brushing his hands off and standing.

“You needed help,” Tim answered simple, some of the Red Robin edge easing out of his voice.

Jason’s eyes narrowed behind the mask. “Why are you really here?”

There was a moment of silence. Even with that damn cowl, Jason knew Tim was weighing all the answers he could possibly give. He only hoped the kid settled on the damn truth for a change.

“One, these men are part of an investigation I am looking into,” Tim said slowly.

“Figured,” Jason grumbled, already starting to head out of the alley and back to the rooftops. He could be back to his apartment in five minutes then he could get a beer and catch the late night reruns of Cheers. “And two?”

Tim moved up to stop him with a hand on his shoulder. “You took a couple bad hits. I wanted to help, to be here for you.”

The words stop Jason more than the hand did. He could easily shake the appendage off. The words were a different story entirely. He turned sharply to face Tim.

That’s when everything went tits up.

More accurately, it’s when Jason’s blood loss caught up with him and he went down.

“Jay!”

No real names in the field, Timbo, Jason thought as he faded out.

—

The next time Jason came back to the world, he was staring at his own ceiling and his mouth felt like chalk. He pursed his lips, trying to remember how he got home. It wouldn’t be the first time that he lost minutes during patrol and ended up in one of his safe houses.

When nothing came to him, he tried to sit up.

“Ah, no, stay still.”

Jason all but jumped out of his own skin. He whipped his head around for the source of the voice.

“Just me,” Tim stated as Jason’s gaze landed on him. He had a tray of, what looked like, soup and medical supplies.

Belatedly Jason realized that his arm and knee were both bound tight and all his scrapes and bruises had been tended to. Nothing was nearly as sore as he last remembered which meant he’d been given painkillers too.

“How did you get me home?” Jason asked, knowing that the better question would be how Tim even knew where home was.

“Carried you,” Tim explained, sitting on the edge of the bed and setting the tray on his lap.

Jason arched an eyebrow, eyeing Tim. “You? Scrawny lad?”

Tim huffed, leaning over to check the bandage on his arm. “Yes, me. Even if you do weight about a million pounds.”

“All muscle, babe,” Jason winked. He did not miss the faint flush that crossed over Tim’s cheeks. Even after all the changes Tim had under gone in the last months, blushing under even a little bit of flirting was not one of them. It made Jason chuckle.

“Eat your soup.”

“Yes, nurse,” Jason saluted with his good arm, pleased to see his elbow didn’t hurt anymore. “Did you make it?”

“Yup.” Tim looked pleased with himself. “Chicken soup.”

“Not as good as Alfred’s but I’m still impressed.”

A small private smile crossed Tim’s features as he ducked his head. It made Jason still for a moment, lowering his spoon back to the bowl. After a silence, he reached over and tilted Tim’s head up with a hand under his jaw.

“Thanks. For… For coming for me.”

Tim searched his face for a moment, looking for what Jason didn’t know. Whatever he found it must have been good because he turned his head just slightly, pressing his lips to Jason’s thumb.

“I always will, Jay.”

That ache was back but this time it wasn’t going to ruin Jason’s night.


End file.
